Instant Pot or Crock Pot Salsa Verde Chicken

7/12/18

This Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken can be made in the Instant Pot or the slow cooker – it's a one pot Mexican-inspired green rice bowl made with tomatillo salsa then topped with avocado, cilantro and jalapenos!

You're going to LOVE this Salsa Verde Chicken with rice and beans – it's such a filling, flavourful meal and fun take on the classic burrito bowl, and it's made all in ONE POT for easy clean up and of course for your meal prep needs.

What I especially love about these Salsa Verde Chicken Bowls is how versatile they are, and how you can easily re-purpose the ingredients in these bowls for other meals as you feel like switching it up throughout the work week.

Actually, one of the chief complaints I get about meal prep is that people tend to get bored after the first couple of lunches, and I have to say I agree.

It's hard eating the same old thing over and over for lunch, but it's also kinda nice to know that you automatically have something healthy that you can grab out of the fridge on the go, or when you're super hungry and you've just arrived home from work.

That said, I also think it's great when you have different ways to re-purpose your leftovers, and before we dive too deep into this salsa chicken, I thought I would just share some ways that you can re-create these bowls and turn them into something new throughout the week – and you may need to do that, especially if you're just cooking for yourself and have way too much of this to eat yourself LOL (I should point out this is the case with me most weeks!)

Let me fill you in on a couple other ways you can re-purpose this salsa chicken into other meals:

Tacos (place the filling in a corn tortilla)

Burritos (saute some extra bell peppers and onions, then add some extra toppings (sour cream, pico de gallo, guac) and roll up into a flour tortilla

Breakfast Bowls (crack a fried egg on top and pair with some turkey bacon)

What is Salsa Verde?

Now, I know this is what you may be wondering before we dive into the specifics of these bowls. Well, salsa verde, put simply, is GREEN SALSA made from tomatillos and it is SO good! You still get the kick of regular red salsa, and I would actually describe it as having a bit of an extra bite. It can be a tiny bit spicier, and you can usually find it in a jar from your local grocery store in the Mexican section.

I used one such jar in this salsa verde chicken recipe, and it was basically just a matter of dumping that in alongside some chicken broth, chicken, rice, cumin, chili powder, garlic, onions, black beans and corn.

Stir in your green peppers after everything has pressure cooked and let them steam (I'm a big fan of the steaming method using the Instant Pot, your veggies never get overcooked this way!) and then add the rest of your toppings like sliced avocado, jalapenos and cilantro.

Will you be making this Salsa Verde Chicken?

This is such an awesome meal prep idea and a super fun twist on your traditional burrito bowl, you're going to love it!

If you try any of my recipes be sure to let me know on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or in the comments – I’d love to see what you come up with!

Instant Pot (or Crock Pot) Salsa Verde Chicken

This Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken can be made in the Instant Pot or the slow cooker - it's a one pot Mexican-inspired green rice bowl made with tomatillo salsa then topped with avocado, cilantro and jalapenos!

Prep Time15mins

Cook Time20mins

Total Time35mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 4servings

Calories: 448kcal

Ingredients

1tbspolive oil

2medium-sized chicken breasts, diced into 1 inch pieces

1medium-sized yellow onion, diced

3clovesgarlic minced

2tspchili powder

1tspcumin

1/2tspsalt

1 1/2cupschicken broth

2cupssalsa verde

1canblack beans

1cupfrozen corn (do not defrost!)

1cupjasmine rice

2green peppers, sliced

1avocado, sliced

1jalapeno pepper, sliced

1/2cupcilantro, chopped

Instructions

Add olive oil, chicken, onion, garlic, spices, broth, salsa, beans, corn and rice to Instant Pot in that order. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure. Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure, then the 5 minutes to cook.

When safe to do so, remove lid and stir in green peppers. Replace lid and let sit for 5 minutes.

Divide among four bowls and top with avocado, jalapeno and cilantro. Serve and enjoy!

Crockpot instructions: Add olive oil, chicken, spices, broth, salsa, beans, corn and rice to slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. Stir in green peppers and let sit 5-10 minutes. Divide among four bowls and top with avocado, jalapeno and cilantro. Serve and enjoy!

About Taylor Stinson

Hey there, my name's Taylor! I’m the founder of The Girl on Bloor, a food blog where I share healthy meal prep recipes for busy people. I'm a busy city girl living in downtown Toronto on (you guessed it!) Bloor Street. I also run the awesome 5-Day Meal Prep Challenge, which is a free email course and Facebook group where I share my meal planning strategies and easy meal prep tips and recipes. Be sure to check out my free beginner’s guide to meal prep and follow me on YouTube and Instagram to get my latest recipes and healthy eating inspiration.

Comments

Turned out perfectly! My husband and I both loved it. Served with “Food Should Taste Good” brand Multigrain tortilla chips and lime on the side and it was delicious. Favorite instant pot recipe I’ve tried so far.